Slipping through my fingers…

Mamma Mia is one of those quirky movies that is one of my favourites. I love the beauty of the ocean, and the joy of the music. I own about 5 DVD’s…and this is one of them.

There is one song that I have always loved…with an aching sadness that brings me to tears. 

Every. Single. Time.

This…

Slipping Through my Fingers

When Meryl Streep sings this song…I have always wept. As much for me as her…knowing that someday my day is coming to see my own child-become-man belong to another woman more than he does to me. As delighted as I knew I would be to see him launch into marriage…I knew I grieve the loss of that little boy who’s gone and been replaced by this stubbly faced young man.

My Junior Tribe Member weds his sweetheart this week.

The little boy who loved face paint and climbing too high on the monkey bars.

The boy who, even when he was late for the bus, would stop and turn around for several quick “hug/kiss/hug/kiss” sequences. I used to ask him why so many hugs and kisses..and he said that he had to do a few extra, in case the first ones don’t work. 

He never could explain what a working kiss and hug did.

The little boy who would run to the door when guests came and snatch their coats to put away, because that was his job. The one who coloured place mats for when friends came over for dinner.

The one who grew to love riding his bike along trails, figuring out how to blow things up using firecrackers, and was a leader on his volleyball team.

This boy taught me to live life large.

And the one who met his future bride in February of Grade 9…several days after Valentine’s Day. Because–awkward. When you’re a broke 14 year old with a new crush, you wait until after, so you don’t blow it.

I always intended to volunteer more for field trips, play more board games, go on more bike rides, shoot hoops in the back lane with him.

But it seemed so often there wasn’t enough time. Things were busy and full. Too much to do.

This was an adventurous boy who didn’t sit still. He was impish and full of fun…and forever creating ways to have fun…with messes and mis-steps. He would see my nerves were frayed…and he laughed with fun as he stomped on the last one.

There were days when every minute raising him seemed like an hour.
Never thought I would know a day when it seemed those years seemed but a minute.

But that day is here.

That sweet boy has grown into a handsome young man, already handling the responsibilities of life. How did he get there?

The time…slipping through my fingers…but on the way through, it made me richer, fuller, braver and wiser. Parenting this boy leaves me a changed person…as that time slipped through my fingers, it changed my hands–it changed me.

I can hardly wait to watch him put a forever ring on her finger this weekend.